Systems and methods for generating a playback-information display during time compression or expansion of an audio signal

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for generating a playback-information display during time compression or expansion of an audio signal are provided. The system includes a processor that performs a method including displaying a first remaining playback-time associated with an audio file; adjusting the playback speed of the audio file during playback of the audio file; and, in response to the playback speed being adjusted, automatically displaying a second remaining playback-time associated with the audio file during playback of the audio file.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/444,219, filed on Jan. 9, 2017, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety in the present application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods forgenerating a playback-information display during time compression orexpansion of an audio signal.

BACKGROUND

Professional and consumer audio equipment may be operated to manipulateaudio-track playback. For example, disk jockeys (“DJs”) can use theequipment to manipulate audio-track playback by, for example, reversingplayback; increasing or decreasing playback speed; and repeating orlooping portions of an audio track. The equipment may be used to analyzeaudio tracks and audio-track playback. DJs use the equipment to analyzean audio track to view information about the audio track and audio-trackplayback. For example, DJs can use the equipment to view the tempo ofthe track; the track, artist, and album name; the track key signature;how much of the track has already played; and how much of the trackremains to be played. DJs use the equipment to view a waveformrepresenting changes in the audio track's sound-pressure level atdifferent frequencies with time.

The disclosed systems and methods are directed to overcoming one or moreof the problems set forth above and/or other problems or shortcomings inthe prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in to and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate the disclosed embodiments and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of thevarious aspects of the disclosed embodiments. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary media player;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary display;

FIG. 3A illustrates another exemplary display;

FIG. 3B illustrates another exemplary display;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary composite waveform;

FIGS. 4B-4D illustrate exemplary subsidiary waveforms;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary display;

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary album-art display;

FIG. 6B illustrates an exemplary loop-length selection display;

FIG. 6C illustrates an exemplary custom-logo display;

FIG. 7A illustrates another view of an exemplary media player;

FIG. 7B illustrates another view of an exemplary media player;

FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary waveform;

FIG. 8B illustrates an exemplary potentiometer;

FIG. 8C illustrates another view of an exemplary potentiometer;

FIG. 9A illustrates an exemplary full waveform;

FIG. 9B illustrates another exemplary waveform;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary process for implementing certainembodiments of a waveform generation process;

FIGS. 12-15 illustrate exemplary displays;

FIG. 16 illustrates another exemplary display;

FIGS. 17A-17D illustrate exemplary displays in exemplary softwareimplementations of certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 18A illustrates another exemplary waveform;

FIG. 18B illustrates another exemplary smoothed waveform;

FIGS. 19A and 19B illustrate exemplary correlation graphs;

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary process for detecting tempo;

FIGS. 21-25 illustrate exemplary displays;

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general descriptions andthe following detailed descriptions are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the claims

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made to certain embodiments consistent with thepresent disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to same or like parts.

The present disclosure describes systems and methods for generating aplayback-information display during time compression or expansion of anaudio signal.

FIG. 1 shows one illustrative embodiment of a media player generally at140. Media player 140 includes a display 1. Display 1 shows informationrelevant to media player's 140 current operating state. Display 1 may befull-color. Display 1 may be a touchscreen, such as a multi-touchdisplay. Display 1 and/or other hardware controls may be used to controlmedia player 140. Other hardware controls, such as, for example, buttonsor knobs, may be used to make selections from display 1. For example, incertain embodiments, back-button 5 is used to show a prior view ondisplay 1. Forward-button 6 is used to advance to a next view on display1.

Media player 140 comprises a select/load-knob 7, which is used to zoomin or zoom out of a waveform (e.g., an audio-track waveform) beingdisplayed on display 1. In certain embodiments, select/load-knob 7 isused to scroll through lists visualized on display 1. Such scrolling mayhighlight one or more elements of a list at a time. The speed of thescrolling may be determined by a velocity algorithm that receives aninput generated by rotating select/load-knob 7. In some embodiments, thespeed of the scrolling per unit of rotation may be increased ordecreased by first pressing or pressing and holding another button onmedia player 140. Select/load-knob 7 is pressed to select highlightedone or more items.

Media player 140 analyzes a selected audio track and stores results ofthe analysis in a catalog of audio-track metadata. The analysis maycomprise determining, for example, the audio-track tempo, theaudio-track key, audio-track downbeat locations, and/or the audio-trackbeat locations. A user views the metadata on a display such as exemplarydisplay 500, illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, the user may viewmusical key 510 (e.g., displayed with standard key notation, numeric keypositions, colorized font to indicate similar keys, or any combinationthereof), tempo 520, track length 530, and/or waveform 540 for aparticular audio track.

Media player 140 includes media-selection indicators 2 b, 2 c, and/or 2d in media-selection indicator section 2. The media-selection indicators2 b, 2 c, and/or 2 d indicate where an audio track is stored. Forexample, media-selection indicator 2 b may be a light-emitting diode(“LED”) that lights up if an audio track stored on an inserted SD cardis played. Media-selection indicator 2 c may be an LED that lights up ifan audio track stored on a connected USB drive is played.Media-selection indicator 2 d may be an LED that lights up if an audiotrack stored on a connected network device is played.

Media player 140 displays a list of available devices from which to playmusic. Such display can be visualized on display 1 by pressing, forexample, source-button 3. The list may include, for example, one or moreother media players, one or more USB drives, and/or one or more SDcards, A user selects a device listed on display 1 by, for example,tapping the display where it lists the device.

Media player 140 prepares itself for safe disconnection from otherelectronic devices. This includes ensuring that one or more files storedon removable memory are not being accessed during disconnection toprevent corruption of the one or more files. To accomplish this, mediaplayer 140 displays a list of available devices from which files may beaccessed. Such display is visualized on display 1 by pressing, forexample, media-eject button 4. A user then selects the device the userwishes to disconnect. Such device is selected by making a sustainedcontact with one's finger with the portion of display 1 displaying thedevice name. Display 1 removes the device from the list when mediaplayer 140 has finished preparing itself for safe disconnection from theelectronic device. Examples of electronic devices include, but are notlimited to, one or more USB drives, one or more SD cards, and one ormore other media players.

Media player 140 controls the playback or otherwise manipulates a firstaudio track while playing a second audio track. The first audio trackand the second audio track may be said to be on different “layers” or“decks” and one or more controls on media player 140 may be used toselectively control one or more audio tracks on one or more layers.Layer-button 10 may be pressed to change which layer or layers one ormore controls on media player 140 will operate on.

Media player 140 has a play/pause-button 15 which, when pressed, causesmedia player 140 to play a currently paused audio track or pause acurrently playing track. Pressing another button or making a selection(e.g., a sound-effect selection) before pressing play/pause-button 15may, in some embodiments, initiate playback of the audio track with asound effect (e.g., stutter). The pause or resume that occurs whenplay/pause-button 15 is pressed may be nearly instantaneous. Pressingplay/pause-button 15 may bring the audio track to a stopped or playingstate by gradually decreasing the playback speed and pitch or graduallyincrease the playback speed and pitch, respectively. This is used toemulate the low angular deceleration and low angular acceleration foundon some vinyl-record turntables. A control, such as stop-time knob 13,is used to increase or decrease the rate of gradual playback speed andpitch increase or decrease when play/pause-button 15 is pressed.

Media player 140 contains a cue-button 16. Pressing cue-button 16 duringaudio-track playback stops playback and places the virtual audioplayhead to a previously set cue point. The virtual audio playhead is anabstraction indicating a location of an audio track that is currentlyplaying or will be played if playback is activated. A cue point is setby, for example, pausing audio track playback, moving the virtual audioplayhead to the desired cue location by rotating platter 11, andpressing cue-button 16.

Media player 140 has track-skip buttons 17 such as previous-track button17 a and next-track button 17 b to select a previous or next track,respectively. If the virtual audio playhead is not at the beginning of atrack, pressing previous-track button 17 a moves the virtual audioplayhead to the beginning of the track the virtual audio playhead iscurrently on.

Media player 140 has a sync-button 21, which, when pressed a first time,designates media player 140 as a master unit, which will dictate theplayback tempo of connected units when synchronization is activated.Subsequently pressing a sync-button on another connected media playercauses the other connected media player to adjust its playback tempo tomatch the playback tempo of media player 140. Synchronization isdeactivated by, for example, pressing sync-button 21 whilesynchronization is active or by pressing another button and sync-button21 simultaneously while synchronization is active. If media player 140is not currently a master unit but is in synchronization with anothermedia player that is a master, pressing master-button 22 will, incertain embodiments, make media player 140 the new master and the othermedia player not a master. For example, the other media player willbecome a slave or independent of media player 140 with respect to tempocontrol.

Display 1 may display a list of audio tracks in a user interface, suchas audio-track list 1204 in user interface 1206 illustrated in FIG. 12.Audio-track list 1204 may comprises audio tracks 1208 a-f. To select anaudio track for a particular purpose, a gesture is performed on display1. An audio track may be selected, for example, to be loaded to an audiodeck and thereby queued for playback. An audio track may be selected tobe added to another audio-track list. In an exemplary embodiment, toselect audio track 1208 a for loading to a deck, a contact is made withdisplay 1 at the location where the title or other information abouttrack 1208 a is displayed and the point of contact moved to anotherlocation on display 1. The contact is continuous during the moving. Ifthe point of contact was moved a sufficient length (e.g., a thresholdlength that is determined by, for example, the size of display 1), track1208 a is loaded to a deck. For example, if the point of contact wasmoved at least one inch, track 1208 a is loaded to the deck. In someembodiments, track 1208 a is loaded when the contact ends if the pointof contact was moved a sufficient length. In some embodiments, both thelength the point of contact is moved and the direction in which thecontact is moved determine whether track 1208 a is loaded to the deck.For example, track 1208 a may be loaded if the point of contact is movedone inch to the right exclusively or in addition to any verticalmovement and ended at least one inch to the right of where the contactbegan. As illustrated in FIGS. 12, 13, and 14, information associatedwith track 1208 a (e.g., artist and title text 1210) is shifted based onthe movement of the point of contact. For example, if the point ofcontact is moved to the right, the artist and title text 1210 areshifted to the right. In some embodiments, the background of the areaoccupied by the display of information associated with track 1208 a ischanged if contact is made with the portion of the display showinginformation associated with track 1208 a and the point of contact moved.For example, if the point of contact is made within the area bounded bythe dashed line 1208 a of FIG. 12 and moved to the right, the backgroundof a first section 1212 of FIG. 13 is a first color. A second section1214 is displayed on the opposite side of album art 1216 from firstsection 1212. Second section 1214 has a background that is the firstcolor or another color. Second section 1214 provides an indication, suchas text, that continuing the movement of the point of contact in adirection in which it was previously moved will result in a particularselection. For example, if the point of contact is moved to the right,section 1214 will show text 1218 of FIG. 13, indicating that continuingthe movement of the point of contact to the right will load the track toa deck. In some embodiments, if the movement occurs for more than athreshold length and, in some embodiments, in a particular direction,display 1 will indicate that ending the contact (e.g., lifting a fingerfrom display 1) will result in a selection. For example, the indicationcan be text 1220 of FIG. 14.

In some embodiments, the direction of the movement of the point ofcontact determines what type of a selection is made. For example, amovement to the right may loads a track to a deck, whereas a movement tothe left adds a track on one track list to a different track list. Forexample, a “Prepare” or preparation track list 2104, to which track 1208a may be added, is illustrated in FIG. 21. To select audio track 1208 afor adding to the track list 2104, a contact is made with display 1 atthe location where the title or other information about track 1208 a isdisplayed and the contact moved to another location on display 1. Thecontact is continuous during the moving. If the point of contact wasmoved a sufficient length (e.g., a threshold length), track 1208 a isadded to track list 2104. For example, if the point of contact was movedat least one inch, track 1208 a is added to track list 2104. In someembodiments, track 1208 a is added to track list 2104 when the contactends if the point of contact was moved a sufficient length. In someembodiments, both the length the point of contact is moved and thedirection in which the contact is moved determines whether track 1208 ais added to track list 2104. For example, track 1208 a may be added ifthe point of contact is moved one inch to the left exclusively or inaddition to any vertical movement and ended at least one inch to theleft of where the contact began. As illustrated in FIGS. 21, 22, and 23,information associated with track 1208 a (e.g., artist and title text1210) is shifted based on the movement of the point of contact. Forexample, if the point of contact is moved to the left, the artist andtitle text 1210 are shifted to the left. In some embodiments, thebackground of the area occupied by the display of information associatedwith track 1208 a changes if contact is made with the portion of thedisplay showing information associated with track 1208 a and the pointof contact moved. For example, if the point of contact is made withinthe area bounded by the dashed line 1208 a of FIG. 12 and moved to theleft, the background of a first section 2204 is a first color. A secondsection 2206 of FIG. 22 has a background that is the first color oranother color. First section 2204 of FIG. 22 provides an indication,such as text, that continuing the movement of the point of contact in adirection in which it was previously moved will result in a particularselection. For example, if the point of contact is moved to the left,section 2204 shows text 2212 of FIG. 22, indicating that continuing themovement of the point of contact to the left will add track 1208 a tothe Prepare track list 2104. In some embodiments, if the movement occursfor more than a threshold length and, in some embodiments, in aparticular direction, display 1 will indicate that ending the contact(e.g., lifting a finger from display 1) will result in a selection. Forexample, the indication may be text 2304 of FIG. 23. As illustrated inFIG. 24, text 2404 is displayed to indicate that track 1208 a was addedto track list 2104 if the requirements for adding track 1208 a,discussed above, were met. Display 1 displays a similar indication iftrack 1208 a is loaded to a deck, as described with respect to FIGS.12-14. Once track 1208 a is added to track list 2104, the track isdisplayed in the list, such as at track slot 2106 of FIGS. 21 and 25. Insome embodiments, tracks in track list 2104 are removed from track list2104 when they are loaded to a deck.

Display 1 displays color waveforms of audio tracks, such as audio tracksbeing played by media player 140. The audio track comprises audio-filedata (e.g., audio signal data). The audio-file data comprises aplurality of values representing sound pressure level amplitudes atdifferent frequencies at different times. Such values are referred to assamples. The waveforms of the audio tracks may be scrolled from a rightside of display 1 to a left side of display 1 when the audio track isplayed in a forward direction, and scrolled in the opposite directionwhen the audio track is played in a backward direction. The waveformsare graphical visualizations of the changes in sound pressure levelamplitude over time at different frequencies that correspond to theaudio track.

Exemplary process 1100, illustrated in FIG. 11 and consistent with thepresent disclosure, is followed to implement certain embodiments of awaveform-generation process. The waveform generation process comprisesreceiving an audio track by a component of media player 140 (step 1102).

In certain embodiments, the audio track is split into two or more audiofrequency bands (i.e., “band split”). A separate waveform is generatedfrom audio data in some or all audio frequency bands (step 1104). Theseseparate waveforms are referred to as “subsidiary waveforms.” Thesubsidiary waveforms may be combined into a single graph that isreferred to as a “composite waveform.” The waveform displayed for anaudio track on display 1 may be a composite color waveform, such asexemplary composite waveform 400 illustrated in FIG. 4A. Compositewaveform 400 is a composite visualization of a plurality of superimposedsubsidiary color waveforms, such as subsidiary waveforms 410 a, 410 b,and 410 c. Subsidiary waveforms 410 a, 410 b, and 410 c are illustratedindividually in FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D, respectively. Subsidiary waveforms410 a, 410 b, and 410 c are constructed from the audio track in whatevermanner provides greatest utility to the user. For example, a subsidiarywaveform may correspond to a portion of the audio track in the frequencydomain after the audio track has been processed by a bandpass filter.Different frequency bands can be used in one or more bandpass filterswhen generating different subsidiary waveforms. For example, subsidiarywaveform 410 a may be constructed by passing the audio track through ahigh-frequency bandpass filter (e.g., 5 kHz-20 kHz), subsidiary waveform410 b may be constructed by passing the audio track through amid-frequency bandpass filter (e.g., 500 Hz-5 kHz), and subsidiarywaveform 410 c may be constructed by passing the audio track through alow-frequency bandpass filter (e.g., 20 Hz-500 Hz). In some embodiments,some of the filters used are high-pass and/or low-pass filters.

In certain embodiments, rather than graphing the amplitude of everyaudio sample with the vertical placement of a point at the horizontalposition of each sample, the system graphs one amplitude point for ablock of samples (e.g., 70 samples). This is referred to as downsampling(steps 1106 a-c). The sample-block size may be fixed or varied in orderto prevent detection of false sonic artifacts. The amplitude graphed fora sample block may be a root-mean-square amplitude for the sample blockor may be computed using any other useful function (e.g., an averagingfunction). The horizontal placement of the point graphing the calculatedamplitude for a sample-block may be anywhere within the region occupiedby the sample-block. The points graphing the sample-block amplitudes maybe connected to each other.

The subsidiary waveforms have a “release factor” applied to them,whereby the subsidiary waveforms are prevented from having theiramplitudes change faster than desired. This may be thought of as“smoothing” the subsidiary waveform such that only the envelope of thesubsidiary waveform is visible (step 1108 a-c). Doing so will assist auser in visualizing the envelope of the signal and thereby find anddifferentiate between different instrument parts by removing confusingor distracting high-transient information. The release factor may beachieved with a nonlinear low-pass filter, an envelope detector, and/orother means. For example, exemplary waveform 1800 illustrated in FIG.18A may be smoothed to produce exemplary smoothed waveform 1802illustrated in FIG. 18B. In certain embodiments, downsampling andsmoothing is performed on the audio data before and/or after performingband splitting.

A subsidiary waveform is modified by mapping its audio data through atransformation function (e.g., an exponential function). This isaccomplished by, for example, an audio enhancer or expander (step 1110 aand 1110 b). This will facilitate greater dynamics in the waveformbecause the high-amplitude sounds have the heights of correspondinggraphical amplitude points raised more than graphical amplitude pointscorresponding to low-amplitude sounds. Doing so assists a user inidentifying peaks in the audio signal.

Instead or in addition, a gain factor, such as a linear gain factor, maybe applied to the subsidiary waveform. This is referred to as “verticalscaling” (step 1112 a-c). The subsidiary waveforms may be enlargedvertically so they fill the entire display 1 and/or a substantialvertical portion thereof.

In some embodiments, different subsidiary waveforms are generated usingdifferent techniques for one or more of the different subsidiarywaveforms (i.e., different processing paths are applied to differentsubsidiary waveforms). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11,low-frequency subsidiary waveforms avoid mapping through atransformation function (e.g., “audio expansion”) while mid- andhigh-frequency subsidiary waveforms are mapped. In some embodiments,some or all subsidiary waveforms are generated through identical orsymmetrical signal-processing paths.

The subsidiary waveforms may have varying transparencies (step 1114a-c). The transparency level is set using any method that providesmeaningful information to the user. For example, the transparency levelof a portion or section of a subsidiary waveform (e.g., a sample block)is proportional or inversely proportional to the average amplitude ofthe subsidiary waveform at that portion (e.g., at a sample block).

In certain embodiments, each subsidiary waveform has a copy of thewaveform superimposed onto it or layered beneath it in a different colorand the transparency of only the subsidiary waveform or the copyadjusted at a portion of either waveform (e.g., at a sample block)proportionally to the amplitude at the portion (step 1116 a-c). Forexample, one subsidiary waveform is created by a low-frequency bandpassfilter and displayed in a navy blue color. A copy of this subsidiarywaveform is displayed in an aqua blue color and layered beneath the navyblue subsidiary waveform. The transparency of the navy blue subsidiarywaveform may be varied between low transparency (when the amplitude ishigh, such as portion 410 d) and high transparency (when the amplitudeis low, such as portion 410 e). In this example, the low-frequencywaveform display will appear aqua blue at sections with low amplitudesand navy blue at sections with high amplitudes. In certain embodiments,other methods of applying a color gradient are used. The transparencyvalues are proportional or inversely proportional to the subsidiarywaveform amplitude before or after any of the subsidiary-waveformprocessing steps described above. For example, the transparency value ofa subsidiary waveform may be proportional or inversely proportional tothe waveform's amplitude before or after smoothing. Visualizing changesin amplitude as a change of color in addition to a change in thevertical height of the subsidiary wave assists a user in locating,conceptualizing, and differentiate between different instrument partswithin an audio track.

After generation of subsidiary waveforms or portions thereof iscompleted, the subsidiary waveforms or portions thereof are combinedinto a composite waveform (step 1118). The composite waveform isdisplayed to the user. The composite waveform may be displayed on DJmedia player 140 and/or with software on a general-purpose computer.FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary user interface 1502 in which compositewaveform 1504 is displayed. User interface 1502 may be displayed on DJmedia player 140 and/or with software on a general-purpose computer.

The foregoing method of creating waveform visualizations may beperformed on DJ media player 140, on a general-purpose computer, or onanother device.

DJ media player 140 may detect the musical tempo of one or more audiotracks. While numerous methods exist for detecting the tempo of an audiotrack, it is desirable to use a method that is accurate and fast. DJmedia player 140 uses a fast and accurate method to determine the tempoof an audio track. A user may select an audio track based on its tempo.For example, a user may select an audio track for playback that has asimilar tempo to an audio track that is currently playing. A user canuse a visual indication of an audio track's tempo to know how much toadjust the track's tempo and whether to increase or decrease theplayback speed (e.g., to match the audio track's tempo to another audiotrack).

The audio-track tempo is determined by detecting amplitude peaks in theaudio track and analyzing the peak locations. Peaks may be detected inthe original audio track or in one or more filtered tracks generated bypassing the original audio track through one or more filters. Forexample, the original audio track may be run through one or morebandpass filters, each with a unique frequency band for filtering, andresult in multiple filtered tracks (e.g., nine filtered tracks from ninebandpass filters). The filtering band or bands are of equal or differentbandwidths and may, in some embodiments, be centered at fixed intervalson the audio-frequency spectrum or at randomized locations on theaudio-frequency spectrum. For example, there may be nine bandpassfilters and each filter's band's center frequency may be positioned oneoctave apart between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. The bandwidth of each filter'sband may be set so that a particular frequency range is covered by allfilter bands, or the bandwidth of each filter's band may be set socertain frequencies are not passed by any filter. The original track orthe filtered tracks have a peak-detection algorithm applied on them tocollect and store information about the amplitude peaks in the filteredtracks. In certain embodiments, the peak-detection occurs on a newlyconstructed waveform, which is created by taking the root-mean-square orother average amplitude of blocks of adjacent audio samples (e.g., theroot-mean-square amplitude of every 70 samples or the root-mean-squareamplitude of blocks of a varying sample-size). Such process is referredto as “downsampling.” Newly constructed waveforms may be filtered asdescribed above, or previously filtered waveforms may be used toconstruct new waveforms using sample blocks as described above.

Peak-detection may comprise analyzing a waveform for amplitudes thatexceed a minimum amplitude value and/or are above a threshold set at apercentage of the amplitude of the last-identified peak. Instead of orin addition, other peak-detection methods may be used. Thepeak-detection information collected and stored for peaks is of at leastone of one or more frequencies of sound energy most responsible forgenerating the peaks, the times within a track at which the peaks occur,the times between a given peak and the previous peak detected, themagnitudes of the peaks (e.g., sound pressure level), first estimatedtempos based on the time between a given peak and the previous peakdetected, or the durations of the peaks. The one or more frequencies ofsound energy most responsible for generating the peak are determinedwith known methods, such as with a biquad filter or with Fast FourierTransform analysis. The magnitude of a given peak may be an averagevalue of the sound energy over a period of time or over a number ofaudio samples. In certain embodiments, the period of time or number ofaudio samples is randomized to decrease the chances of generating falsesonic artifacts.

Collected peak information is analyzed for patterns and tempos can beestimated for one or more peaks. The estimated tempos for peaks withsimilar characteristics, such as peaks generated with sound energy atthe same or substantially similar frequency and/or peaks with the sameor substantially similar magnitude and/or duration, are analyzed todetermine a first estimated tempo for the audio track by, for example,averaging the estimated tempos for the similar peaks and deriving thefirst estimated tempo by dividing a unit of time by the average distancebetween the similar peaks. For example, if the average distance betweensimilar peaks is one second, dividing 60 seconds per minute by onesecond per beat gives 60 beats per minute. Peaks with differentcharacteristics may be analyzed instead or in addition to determine thefirst estimated tempo. The first estimated tempo is used as an initialestimate for creating one or more tempo-and-peak-location correlationgraphs (“correlation graphs” or “histograms”) for other estimated temposand associated measures of lengths determined by the estimated tempo(i.e., a measure associated with or based on a estimated tempo). Such acorrelation graph 1900 is illustrated in FIG. 19A, Correlation graph1900 may be visualized as a histogram where horizontal axis 1902contains sample locations in a measure for an estimated tempo, numberingzero through the number of samples expected to be in the measure for theestimated tempo. The number of samples expected to be in the measure ismathematically determined by dividing the track sample-length by theestimated tempo and adjusting the quotient based on the number of beatsin a measure and the time-unit used to express the tempo. The measuresin the track may be assumed to be equal-length measures for a givenestimated tempo. The system performing this analysis may assume that thetrack has a fixed number of beats in one or more measures or the systemmay allow the user to designate the number of beats in one or moremeasures of the track. The vertical axis 1904 of the correlation graphrepresents the quantity of measures in the track containing a peak at aparticular sample location within the measure of a length determined bya tempo associated with the correlation graph. For example, if a trackhas twenty measures containing a peak at the fourth sample in eachmeasure, the correlation graph will have a single point at thehorizontal location of sample four and the vertical location of twenty.The location of a peak within a measure is referred to as the “distance”between the beginning of the measure containing the peak and the peaklocation within the measure. This distance is measured, for example, asa number of samples or by a unit of time. In certain embodiments, thehorizontal axis, rather than having a separate location for each samplein a measure, instead has bins for a range of sample-locations within ameasure (e.g., a first bin for samples 1-10, a second bin for samples11-20, etc.).

In some embodiments, a separate correlation graph is created for eachestimated tempo. FIG. 19B illustrates an exemplary second correlationgraph 1908 that can be compared to correlation graph 1900. Once thelocations of peaks in measures have been accounted for in the histogramfor a given estimated tempo, such as the first estimated tempo, acorrelation graph is created for estimated tempos that are fixed orvaried multiples of the initial estimated tempo (e.g., 2×, 0.75×, 1.5×).The correlation graphs are constructed for a range of estimated tempos,such as for two beats-per-minute below the first estimated tempo throughtwo beats-per-minute above the first estimated tempo. The firstestimated tempo may be incremented by a fixed amount (e.g., 0.01) or avaried amount to determine other estimated tempos. For estimated temposin this range, fixed or varied multiples of the estimated tempos mayhave correlation tables constructed using the foregoing method.

Two or more of the histograms (e.g., correlation graphs) created for theestimated tempos are compared to determine which histogram is associatedwith the most accurate tempo of the track. For example, a score may beassigned to each estimated tempo's histogram. The score for thehistogram may be an average of the highest three or other quantities ofmeasures in the track containing a peak at a particular sample locationwithin the measures for a given estimated tempo (i.e., the average ofthe three highest points on the histogram). For example, the histogramfor an estimated tempo of 90 beats-per-minute may have threesample-locations within the track's measures where peaks occurred thegreatest number of times (e.g., sample-location numbers three, seven,and eleven). In this example, if the peaks occurred 20, 25, and 26 timesat sample-locations three, seven, and eleven, respectively, then thescore assigned to the histogram for the estimated tempo of 90beats-per-minute is the average of 20, 25, and 26, or 23.66. In certainembodiments, the numbers of peaks in the, for example, tensample-locations with the most peaks are averaged to determine the scorefor an estimated tempo. Once a score is determined for the estimatedtempos, the estimated tempo with the highest score is assigned as thetrack tempo. For example, the score of correlation graph 1908 may behigher than that of correlation graph 1900 because the average value ofthe peaks in correlation graph 1908 is higher than the average value ofpeaks in correlation graph 1900. The tempo used to create correlationgraph 1908 may thus be considered more accurate than the tempo used tocreate correlation graph 1900. In certain embodiments, estimated temposwith outlying scores are disregarded (e.g., if a score is unusually highrelative to other scores). In certain embodiments, the number of peaksat a particular sample-location is multiplied by the amplitudes (e.g.,sound pressure levels) or the sum of the amplitudes of the peaks at thatsample-location. The score may then be calculated using this product. Incertain embodiments, the amplitudes of peaks may be incorporated intothe scoring in another manner. In certain embodiments, tables for eachestimated tempo score are created instead of or in addition tohistograms. The tables may contain some or all of the informationdescribed in the histogram. In certain embodiments, only some of thedetected peaks are analyzed, such as peaks generated by sound energy ata particular frequency. In certain embodiments, only some of themeasures in an audio track are analyzed. In certain embodiments, thescore for a histogram is determined in part by analyzing the frequencyof the sound energy that contributed to peaks at the location having thegreatest number of peaks. For example, if a number of peaks weregenerated by low-frequency sound energy at a location for a firstestimated tempo and the same number of peaks were generated byhigh-frequency sound energy at a location for a second estimated tempo,the first estimated tempo may be designated as the accurate tempobecause the peaks at the location for the first estimated tempo weregenerated by lower-frequency sound energy or sound energy with afrequency below a threshold frequency. The threshold frequency may beset by determining the frequency dominated by one or more instruments inthe track that is played on many beats within the track and/or mostly onbeats within the track.

The downbeat locations in a track may be determined by partitioning thehistogram created for the estimated tempo with the highest score into anumber of sections equal to the number of beats in the measures. In someembodiments, two or more sections have an equal number of samples. Forexample, a histogram for a 100-sample-long measure with four beats maybe partitioned into four sections, each 25 samples long. The samplelocation having the greatest number of peaks is determined to be thedownbeat. In certain embodiments, the number of sample locationscompared is the number of beats in the measure associated with ahistogram. For example, this may comprise determining the samplelocations having the greatest number of peaks within sections andcomparing the numbers of peaks at those locations in the differentsections. In certain embodiments, the number of peaks at samplelocations is multiplied by the amplitudes (e.g., sound pressure level)or the sum of the amplitudes associated with the peaks at samplelocations and the products compared. In some embodiments, a weightingfactor is applied such that peaks that are created with lower-frequencysound energy are compared more favorably to peaks created withhigher-frequency sound energy. For example, if a sample location hadpeaks created with mostly low-frequency energy and another samplelocation had peaks created with mostly high-frequency energy, the formersample location is assigned as the downbeat even if the number of peaksat the former sample location is equal to or less than the number ofpeaks at the latter location.

In certain embodiments, the foregoing methods may comprise an exemplaryprocess 2000 for detecting tempo illustrated in FIG. 20. Process 2000comprises detecting peaks and peak locations in a waveform of a digitalaudio track (step 2002). Process 2000 comprises dividing the track intofirst measures based on a first estimated tempo (step 2004). The firstmeasures may have equal lengths. The first measures may contain detectedpeaks at peak locations. Process 2000 comprises determining thedistances between the start of the first measures and the peak locationswithin the first measures (step 2006). Process 2000 comprises dividingthe track into second measures based on a second estimated tempo (step2008). The second estimated tempo may be determined based on the firstestimated tempo (e.g., the second estimated tempo may be a multiple ofthe first estimated tempo). The second measures may contain detectedpeaks at peak locations. Process 2000 comprises determining thedistances between the start of the second measures and the peaklocations within the second measures (step 2010). Process 2000 comprisesdetermining whether the number of peaks with a common distance from thefirst measures' beginnings is greater than the number of peaks with acommon distance from the second measures' beginnings (step 2012). If so,the first estimated tempo is considered more accurate than the secondestimated tempo. The tempo corresponding to the first estimated tempomay be set as the track tempo (step 2014). Otherwise, the tempocorresponding to the second estimated tempo is set as the track tempo(step 2016). In certain embodiments, another form of comparing the firstestimated tempo to the second estimated tempo may be used. If anotherestimated tempo is compared to the set tempo for accuracy, the processwill repeat for the set tempo and the new estimated tempo (steps 2018 aand 2018 b). Process 2000 may be repeated until a tempo is estimatedwith sufficient accuracy. It is to be understood that a measure lengthmay be used to derive a corresponding tempo and vice versa.

The foregoing methods of tempo and downbeat detection may be performedon DJ media player 140, on a general-purpose computer, or on anotherdevice.

Media player 140 contains a platter 11 (e.g., a control wheel) or othercontroller mechanism for controlling a virtual audio playhead, asillustrated in FIG. 1. As discussed above, the virtual audio playhead isan abstraction indicating a location of an audio track that is currentlyplaying or will be played if playback is activated. Platter 11 and/orother controls on media player 140 may be used to control audio playbackor other features on other devices reading an audio file (e.g., anexternal general-purpose computer). Platter 11 is manually orautomatically rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise, corresponding to aprogression of the virtual audio playhead forward in an audio track orbackward in the audio track, respectively. Platter 11 may comprise aside portion 11 b and a top portion 11 c. During manual rotation of topportion 11 c, media player 140 may process the audio track beingcontrolled to create a vinyl-scratching sound effect, emulating thesound that would be produced by moving a vinyl-record turntable needleback and forth across a vinyl record containing the audio track. Suchoperating mode of top portion 11 c is selected by pressing vinyl-button14 or pausing audio-track playback. When vinyl-button 14 is not pressed,top portion 11 c may be rotated clockwise to temporarily increaseplayback speed or counter-clockwise to temporarily decrease playbackspeed during audio-track playback. Platter side-portion 11 b may berotated clockwise to temporarily increase playback speed orcounter-clockwise to temporarily decrease playback speed.

Platter 11 is touch-sensitive. The touch-sensitivity may be accomplishedby, for example, using a capacitive sensing surface for platter 11. Ifplatter 11 is touch-sensitive, an audio track controlled by platter 11may be stopped by resting one's hand on platter 11 and then resumed bylifting one's hand from platter 11.

Platter 11 has one or more light-emitting elements associated with it,such as a platter light-emitting diode (“platter-LED 700 a”) of FIG. 7A.The light-emitting elements are within platter's 11 housing. Mediaplayer 140 may have other light-emitting elements or features (e.g.,buttons). One or more of the light-emitting elements on media player140, such as platter-LED 700 a, may be configured to emit light of aparticular color. This may be done to associate media player 140 orcontrols of media player 140 with a particular color selected from aplurality of selectable colors. Similarly, the one or morelight-emitting elements may be configured to emit a color that dependson which layer of media player 140 the media player 140 currentlycontrols. For example, a user may assign the color blue to be emitted byplatter-LED 700 a when media player 140 is set to control an audio trackplaying on layer A and assign the color orange to be emitted byplatter-LED 700 a when media player 140 is set to control an audio trackplaying on layer B (as illustrated in FIG. 7B). In certain embodiments,the platter color is selected on display 1. As illustrated in FIGS. 7Aand 7B, color wheel 704 may be displayed on display 1. Display 1 showsthe selected platter-LED 700 a color, such as colors 706 a and 706 b,with a bolded or highlighted outline. For illustrative purposes, theseoutlines in FIGS. 7A and 7B are shown with a dashed line and adot-dashed line, respectively, to indicate different colors on colorwheel 704 and platter-LED 700 a. It is to be understood, however, thatthe outlining or bolding may be done with other types of lines, such assolid lines. It is to be understood that platter-LED 700 may comprisemultiple LEDs.

Display 1 on media player 140 is used to assign colors to light-emittingelements of other media players that are connected to media player 140and/or to one or more layers on those other connected media players. Inan embodiment, a user is presented with all available media players andthe layers thereon, as illustrated in exemplary display 200 of FIG. 2.When the user selects a media player or a layer, such as player 210(“PLAYER 1”) or layer 220 (“B”) on player 210, the user is presentedwith a color-selection display, as illustrated in exemplary display 300of FIG. 3A. Display 300 is a color wheel. The user may select color 320to assign it to the selected player or layer. If the user wants toselect the color for another layer on the selected player, the userselects the layer 330 and select color 320 on exemplary display 310 ofFIG. 3B. Exemplary display 310 of FIG. 3B indicates which layer is beingassociated with the selected color by highlighting or bolding layer 330.Exemplary display 310 outlines selected color 320 in bold to indicatethat color 320 was selected. In certain embodiments, light-emittingelements can have colors assigned to them using software on ageneral-purpose computer. For example, a user may select one or morecolors for or more light-emitting elements on a general-purpose computerand save these settings to a user profile. The user profile may then beloaded on media player 140 via a USB connection, a portable storagemedium (e.g., an SD card), or another method. In some embodiments, theuser profile may be associated with one or more audio files and loadedonto media player 140 when the user loads the one or more audio files.

Associating one or more colors with one or more players and/or layersthereon may provide a convenient indication of which layer is currentlyactive on a particular media player and/or help a user differentiatebetween multiple media players during, for example, a high-energyperformance with poor lighting conditions. One or more buttons and/orother controls may be light-emitting elements to which colors may beassigned.

In certain embodiments, information about the colors assigned to mediaplayers and/or layers is sent to a mixer or other control unit connectedto the media players. This allows light-emitting elements located on themixer or other control unit and associated with a particular mediaplayer and/or layer to be assigned the color assigned to the associatedmedia player and/or layer.

Platter 11 has a platter-display 11 a positioned in its center. In someembodiments, platter-display 11 a is positioned elsewhere on mediaplayer 140. Platter-display 11 a shows a graphical display. Thegraphical display is customizable. For example, platter-display 11 a mayshow information about a currently selected or playing audio file (e.g.,file name, song name, artist name, album name, tempo, key signature,album artwork, and/or artist image). Platter-display 11 a may show acustom image (e.g., a logo or trademark of the disk jockey using mediaplayer 140). Platter-display 11 a may display information regardingaudio track manipulation or other audio-track control information (e.g.,the length of a created audio loop, the percent by which the tracklength is being increased, current virtual audio playhead position,current layer controlled by platter 11 or media player 140 in general,and/or the number of semitones by which the track is being pitch-bent).Platter-display 11 a is generally used to visualize any information thatwould assist a user interfacing with media player 140. The informationor graphic displayed may be static during a certain period of time orevent (e.g., unchanging during audio-track playback), or it may bedynamic (e.g., a video or information that changes when it is determinedto no longer be accurate). Platter-display 11 a may show, for example,exemplary album-art display 600 a, as illustrated in FIG. 6A.Platter-display 11 a may display a highlight 610 on outer perimeter 620of platter-display 11 a or another portion of platter-display 11 a toindicate the virtual audio playhead's position within a song. Highlight610 may revolve around outer perimeter 620 at 33 and ⅓ revolutions perminute (RPM), 45 RPM, 78 RPM, or some other rate. In some embodiments,highlight 610 may revolve clockwise or counter-clockwise along theplatter-display's 11 a outer perimeter 620 or another portion ofplatter-display 11 a to indicate what portion of an audio track has beenplayed and/or what portion remains to be played (e.g., making a singlefull circle during playback of an audio track, such by beginning andending at the 12 o'clock position). In some embodiments, instead or inaddition to highlight 610 revolving around outer perimeter 620,highlight 630 may revolve clockwise or counter-clockwise alongplatter-display's 11 a inner circle 640 between a logo 650 and outerperimeter 620. Highlight 630 may indicate the position of the virtualaudio playhead when slip mode is activated (discussed below with respectto FIGS. 9A and 9B). When slip mode is activated, highlight 630 may belined up with highlight 610. As a user rotates platter top portion 11 cwhile in slip mode, highlight 630 may revolve in a manner that indicatesthe position of the virtual audio playhead within in the audio track.During this time, highlight 610 may proceed to revolve as it would ifslip mode was not activated and platter top portion 11 c not rotated.

Platter-display 11 a may show, for example, exemplary loop-lengthselection display 600 b, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, Loop-lengthselection display 600 b indicates the length of a currently playing loopor a selected loop (e.g., that the loop length is one 32nd of a beat).Platter-display 11 a may show, for example, an exemplary custom-logodisplay 600 c, wherein the custom logo displayed is specified and/orprovided by the user, as illustrated in FIG. 6C. A display substantiallysimilar to platter-display 11 a can be in or about the center of acontrol wheel on a controller, such as a disk jockey controller used tointerface with computer software or another media device.

Media player 140 has a speed-fader 18. Moving speed-fader 18 in onedirection increases the playback speed and moving speed-fader 18 in theother direction decreases the playback speed. Increasing or decreasingthe playback speed corresponds to compressing or expanding the playbacktime for an audio track and vice versa. If Key-lock button 20 is notpressed before moving speed-fader 18, increasing or decreasing playbackspeed may increase or decrease playback pitch, respectively.

Adjusting the speed of audio-track playback, such as by movingspeed-fader 18 or other controller mechanism, alters the audio-trackwaveform displayed on display 1. For example, decreasing the speed ofplayback stretches out the waveform horizontally and/or increasing thespeed of playback contracts the waveform horizontally, Exemplarywaveform 800, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, is a waveform before the speedof playback is adjusted. In this instance, a fader such as fader 18 ofslide potentiometer illustrated as element 820 in FIGS. 8B and 8C is setto a nominal setting (e.g., in the center), as illustrated in FIG. 8B.Decreasing the playback speed, such as by sliding fader 18 up in theslide potentiometer 820 as illustrated in FIG. 8C, causes the system tostretch or expand the waveform 800, resulting in an expanded waveform810. The contracting or stretching may occur in one or more directions.Adjusting the waveforms in such manner serves as a visual indicator to auser that the track will take less or more time to play than before thespeed change because there is less or more waveform, respectively, toscroll through. Waveform 800 may be contracted or stretched by an amountthat is proportional to the playback speed increase or decrease,respectively. The speed of audio-track playback may be adjusted beforeor during audio-track playback. The foregoing method of adjusting awaveform display may be performed on DJ media player 140, on ageneral-purpose computer, or on another device.

Adjusting the speed of audio-track playback, such as by movingspeed-fader 18, alters track-time indicators displayed on display 1. Forexample, increasing or decreasing the speed of playback decreases orincreases, respectively, a remaining track-time (e.g., a playback-time)indicator. Increasing or decreasing the speed of playback decreases orincreases, respectively, a total track-time (e.g., a time-length)indicator. The amount by which the track-time indicators are increasedor decreased may be selected so as to allow the one or more track-timeindicators to increment or decrement at the same rate as regulartime-keeping clocks (e.g., at the rate they would increment or decrementbefore the speed of playback is altered). The track time displayed afterplayback-speed alteration is an adjusted track time. The speed ofaudio-track playback may be adjusted before or during audio-trackplayback. The foregoing method of adjusting the track playback timedisplay and the track-time remaining display can be performed on DJmedia player 140, on a general-purpose computer, or on another device.

Media player 140 has a slip-button 24. When slip-button 24 is pressed, auser may manipulate audio track playback on media player 140 (e.g., playthe track in reverse, pause the track, repeat a looped portion of thetrack, create a scratching effect) and, when finished, resume regularplayback from the audio-track location that the virtual audio playheadwould have been at when regular playback was resumed if playbackmanipulation had not occurred. For example, if at second number 30 of anaudio track a user pushes slip-button 24 and pauses the audio track for10 seconds, the audio track will resume playback at second number 40 ofthe audio track rather than resuming from second number 30.

When slip-button 24 is pressed, a full waveform 910 of the audio trackbeing displayed in display 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, is divided intotwo halves along a horizontal axis (e.g., creating a top half 900 a andbottom half 900 b). When a user manipulates the audio track's playback,such as by rotating platter 11 counter-clockwise to reverse thedirection of playback, one half of the waveform represents themanipulated playback (e.g., scrolling, in reverse, bottom half 900 bfrom the left side of display 1 to the right side of display 1). Theother half of the waveform (e.g., top half 900 a) continues to scrollfrom the right side of display 1 to the left side of display 1 as if noplayback manipulation was occurring. This provides the user with avisual indication of what the audience will hear if the user ceasesmanipulating playback at a particular time while simultaneously allowingthe user to see a visual representation of the manipulated playback theaudience is currently hearing. For example, if the user wants to stopplaying an audio track in reverse and resume regular playback as soon asa loud drum hit occurs in the track, the user may monitor thenon-manipulated half-waveform 900 a and end reverse playback when alarge peak on the non-manipulated half-waveform 900 a (e.g.,corresponding to the loud drum hit) reaches the middle of display 1 orthe virtual audio playhead. To indicate to the user which half-waveformis currently audible, the inaudible half-waveform may be greyed-outand/or the audible half-waveform may have its colors accented orhighlighted. When regular playback is resumed, full waveform 910 of thenow-audible half-wave 900 a is displayed (e.g., the previously inaudiblehalf-wave 900 a is displayed in its full form). As an additionalexample, exemplary waveform 920 illustrated in FIG. 9B shows thewaveform after slip button 24 is pressed and the playback manipulated.In some embodiments, measure numbers 920 a, 920 b, and 920 c aredisplayed on the half-wave 900 a before, while, or after it isinaudible. The foregoing method of displaying two half-waveforms duringplayback manipulation can be performed on DJ media player 140, on ageneral-purpose computer, or on another device. In some embodiments, afull waveform and half-waves may be scrolled from the top of a displayto the bottom or from the bottom to the top. The full waveform may bedivided into two halves along a vertical axis.

Media player 140 has eight loop-buttons 32. Pressing loop-button 32 afirst time sets a point in an audio track for beginning a playback loop.Pressing the same loop-button 32 a second time sets a point in the audiotrack for ending the playback loop and automatically activates therepetition of the playback loop (i.e., activate the loop). In certainembodiments, pressing loop-button 32 will not automatically activaterepetition of the playback loop. Pressing loop-button 32 a third time orwhile media player 140 is repeating an active playback loop stops therepetition of the playback loop (i.e., exit the loop). Pressingloop-button 32 a fourth time or after loop-button 32 was pressed to exitthe loop reactivates repetition of the loop from the previously selectedpoint for beginning the loop and to the previously selected point forending the loop. Pressing loop-button 32 a fifth time ends thereactivated repetition of the loop. The loop start and end times orlocations and the loop button 32 used to create the loop are saved asmetadata (e.g., ID3 tags) associated with or added to the audio-trackfile, such that reloading a particular audio track on media player 140allows recall of a previously created loop using the same loop button 32without needing to recreate it. Different loops may be associated,respectively, with different loop buttons 32. In some embodiments, loopscreated and associated with a particular loop button 32 may beassociated with a different loop button 32 instead or in addition to theloop button 32 used to create the loop. The foregoing method of creatingplayback loops can be performed on DJ media player 140, on ageneral-purpose computer, or on another device.

FIGS. 17A-D illustrate an exemplary user interface displayed when usingthe single-button loop feature. Virtual audio playhead 1706 ispositioned between measures 9 and 10, as indicated by measure indicators1708 a and 1708 b, respectively. Button 1710 is pressed or selected toset a loop start-point at the location of the virtual audio playhead1706 when button 1710 is pressed. In some embodiments where the audiosoftware with the single-button loop feature is implemented on ageneral-purpose computer, button 1710 may be selected using, forexample, a mouse and/or a key on a keyboard. In some embodiments wherethe audio software with the single-button loop feature is implemented ona DJ media player, button 1710 may be selected using a physical buttonor a touchscreen display on the DJ media player (e.g., one or more loopbuttons 32). In the example illustrated in FIGS. 17A-D, the loopstart-point is at tenth measure 1712, which is the measure immediatelyto the right of measure indicator 1708 b. A loop start-point marker 1722of FIGS. 17B-D is displayed on waveform 1714 at the loop start-pointlocation. As illustrated in FIG. 17B, waveform 1714 and/or waveformbackground 1716 are shaded differently at the portions of waveform 1714that will be played back in a loop if a loop end-point is created at thevirtual audio playhead's 1706 current position. In some embodiments,this comprises shading waveform 1714 and/or a portion of waveformbackground 1716 differently between the loop start-point and virtualaudio playhead 1706 before a loop end-point is set. When a loopend-point is set, the shading of waveform 1714 and/or a portion ofwaveform background 1716 is different between the loop start-point andloop end-point. Once the loop start-point is created, the image ofbutton 1710 is changed to indicate that the loop start-point has beencreated and, in some embodiments, that a loop end-point has not yet beencreated. As illustrated in FIG. 17B, this is accomplished by displayinga bar 1717 on button 1710. In some embodiments, the portion of waveformbackground 1716 is a shaded bar 1718.

If button 1710 is pressed a second time and this second press occurswhen virtual audio playhead 1706 is at measure eleven 1720, asillustrated in FIG. 17C, measure eleven 1720 is set as the loopend-point. A loop end-point marker 1724 of FIG. 17D is displayed onwaveform 1714 at the loop end-point location. The audio is loopedbetween the loop start-point at measure ten 1712 and the loop end-pointat measure eleven 1720, as illustrated in FIG. 17D. A name (e.g., “Loop1”) is generated for the loop. The name is displayed, for example, onbutton 1710 and/or on shaded bar 1718, as illustrated in FIG. 17D.

In some embodiments, metadata is added to the audio file for the trackin which the loop was created to associate the created loop with theaudio file. This metadata may be added to the audio file when the loopis created (e.g., the second time loop button 32 is pressed). Themetadata comprises information that is used to recreate the loop if theaudio file is reloaded for playback. For example, the metadata comprisesthe loop start-point, loop end-point, loop name, and/or buttonassignment (e.g., the button to which the loop is assigned). Thesoftware used to playback an audio track assigns loops associated with aloaded audio track to buttons in accordance with information containedin metadata associated with the audio track. In some embodiments, aseparate file containing the audio data that is looped is not created.

The looped playback continues until button 1710 is pressed a third time.During loop playback, the shading of shaded bar 1718 behind virtualaudio playhead 1706 is different from the shading of bar 1718 in frontof virtual audio playhead 1706. Pressing button 1710 a third time duringloop playback causes virtual playhead 1706 to proceed from its locationwhen button 1710 was pressed a third time to the loop end-point bytraversing intervening portions of the audio track and continue movingbeyond the loop end-point. In some embodiments, virtual playhead 1706will jump from its location when button 1710 is pressed a third time tothe loop end-point and continue moving beyond the loop end-point.

Pressing button 1710 a fourth time causes looped playback of audiobetween the loop start-point and loop end-point to be reinitiated.Pressing button 1710 a fifth time causes the looped playback to end(e.g., an exit from the loop).

It is to be understood that, in some embodiments, the selection of aloop start-point, selection of a loop end-point, exiting a loop, and/orentering a loop may occur at the moment button 1710 is released afterbeing pressed in addition to or instead of at the moment button 1710 ispressed. For example, a loop start-point may be created at the momentbutton 1710 is pressed a first time and a loop end-point may be createdat the moment button 1710 is released a first time. Button 1710 may beheld down continuously between the creation of a loop start-point and aloop end-point, creating the loop end-point at the location where button1710 is released after the first press. In this case, what haspreviously been referred to as a third press is a second press, what hasbeen referred to as a fourth press is a third press, and what has beenreferred to as a fifth press is a fourth press. In an embodiment, a loopend-point is created after releasing button 1710 from a second press.The display of button 1710 may be shaded differently while button 1710is pressed and before it is released, as illustrated in FIGS. 17B and17C.

Button 1710 is used for the single-button loop feature discussed above.In some embodiments, button 1710 is used for the single-button loopfeature or to set a cue point. For example, if loop button 1726 ispressed before button 1710, button 1710 can be used for thesingle-button loop feature. If hot cue button 1728 is pressed beforebutton 1710, button 1710 can be used to set a cue point.

Playback loops may be configured with auto-loop knob 33 on media player140. Auto-loop knob 33 is rotated to set the length of a loop (e.g., onequarter-note or half of a second). The set length of the loop isdisplayed on display 1, platter display 11 a, or both. The loop isactivated by pressing auto-loop knob 33 and deactivated by pressingauto-loop knob 33 again. An activated loop may be shifted forward orbackward by an amount set by rotating auto-loop knob 33 while the loopis active. The amount is set by rotating auto-loop knob 33 until thedisplay 1 and/or platter display 11 a shows the desired amount. Theforegoing method of creating playback loops can be performed on DJ mediaplayer 140, on a general-purpose computer, or on another device.

The virtual audio playhead may be shifted backwards or forward by afixed amount. This is accomplished by first rotating a knob, such asauto-loop knob 33, until a desired amount to shift the virtual audioplayhead by is displayed on display 1 and/or platter display 11 a (e.g.,one quarter note or half a second). Second, a forward beat-jump button34 a or backward beat-jump button 34 b is pressed to move the virtualaudio playhead by the fixed amount forward or backward, respectively.

Media player 140 has an internal procedure for reacting to a full orpartial power failure. For example, media player 140 comprises one ormore capacitors or other energy-storing elements that provide mediaplayer's 140 components with power if electricity supplied to mediaplayer 140 is inadequate (e.g., during an external power failure due toa tripped circuit protector or an inadvertently pulled power cord). Whenthere is a disruption of electric current or potential, one or moreenergy-storing elements provide power long enough for display 1 topresent a notification to the user that a shutdown will occur within acertain amount of time and/or present a count-down timer until shutdownbegins. For example, the system may present exemplary display 1600illustrated in FIG. 16. The notification may comprise a gauge indicatingan amount of energy left in the energy-storing elements (e.g., an amountof energy or a portion of energy, such as 50% of the total energypreviously available). The energy-storing elements may be one or morecapacitors and/or other devices. A capacitor-charging circuit maintainsthe capacitor voltage at a level that is lower than the normal operatingvoltage for the system. A processor within media player 140 monitors thevoltage it is supplied and, upon sensing that the voltage has changedfrom the normal operating voltage, initiates the notification andshutdown procedures. The processor determines the rate at which thevoltage is dropping and starts the count-down timer display from aparticular time based on how long the system has until it must perform asafe shutdown. The system initiates a shutdown procedure if normaloperating voltage is not restored (e.g., by reconnecting a disconnectedpower cable) within the amount of time indicated by the count-downtimer. In certain embodiments, the system initiates a shutdown procedureif it senses the voltage dropped below a certain threshold. Suchthreshold may be, for example, the minimum voltage at which the systemcan properly operate or perform a reduced number of functions.Energy-storing elements provide enough power so that audio tracks cancontinue playing some time after the power failure, such as in the timebetween a voltage drop and the initiation of the safe shutdown procedureor the time necessary to finish playing the currently playing song. Thesystem may safely shut down in a manner that prevents file or systemcorruption, such as by stopping the reading of or writing to a file,properly saving a File Allocation Table on a hard disk or other mediumwithin or without the media player 140, properly saving core file systemblocks, and/or properly saving file-header blocks of one or more openfiles.

An internal procedure for reacting to a full or partial power failuremay, in some embodiments, be implemented by an exemplary hardwareconfiguration 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10. Hardware configuration 1000comprises a capacitor-charging controller 1002 (“controller 1002”) thatcontrols when a capacitor 1004 is being charged. In certain embodiments,capacitor 1004 is a plurality of capacitors or one or more otherenergy-storing devices. Controller 1002 is powered by a power source1006. Controller 1002 operates a hardware component 1008 to supply powerfrom power source 1010 to capacitor 1004. In certain embodiments powersource 1006 is the same as power source 1010. In certain embodiments,hardware component 1008 is multiple components. For example, hardwarecomponent 1008 may be a pair of transistors that operate in a switchedmode. Hardware configuration 1000 comprises a hardware component 1012that sets the electric potential at which controller 1002 will maintaincapacitor 1004. In certain embodiments, hardware component 1012 is avoltage-divider circuit that uses a first reference voltage fromcontroller 1002 to set capacitor's 1004 electric potential. Hardwareconfiguration 1000 comprises hardware component 1014 that enables ordisables controller 1002. In certain embodiments, hardware component1014 comprises a comparator circuit that compares a voltage derived fromthe electric potential at capacitor 1004 to the first or a secondreference voltage. For example, if the electric potential at capacitor1004 is less than the electric potential set by hardware component 1012but within a tolerable margin of the electric potential set by hardwarecomponent 1012, hardware component 1014 may disable controller 1002 fromcharging capacitor 1004. Hardware configuration 1000 comprises hardwarecomponent 1016 that controls whether current flows from capacitor 1004to other hardware within media player 140. In certain embodiments,hardware component 2016 receives a logic signal 1018 to permit currentto flow from capacitor 1004 to other hardware within media player 140,such as a processor. Logic signal 1018 is sent from a device that isaware of whether a safe-shutdown procedure should be initiated.

It is to be understood in the foregoing description that the term“hardware component” may refer to a plurality of physical devices orcomponents or to a single physical device or component.

Certain embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented assoftware on a general-purpose computer or on another device.

It is to be understood that different styles of shading or shadingpatterns used in the figures may represent different colors, differentstyles of shading, or different shading patterns.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes ofillustration. It is not exhaustive and is not limited to the preciseforms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the disclosed embodiments.

The features and advantages of the disclosure are apparent from thedetailed specification, and thus, it is intended that the appendedclaims cover all systems and methods falling within the true spirit andscope of the disclosure. As used herein, the indefinite articles “a” and“an” mean “one or more.” Similarly, the use of a plural term does notnecessarily denote a plurality unless it is unambiguous in the givencontext. Words such as “and” or “or” mean “and/or” unless specificallydirected otherwise. Further, since numerous modifications and variationswill readily occur from studying the present disclosure, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationillustrated and described, and, accordingly, all suitable modificationsand equivalents falling within the scope of the disclosure may beresorted to.

Computer programs, program modules, and code based on the writtendescription of this specification, such as those used by themicrocontrollers, are readily within the purview of a softwaredeveloper. The computer programs, program modules, or code can becreated using a variety of programming techniques. For example, they canbe designed in or by means of Java, C, C++, assembly language, or anysuch programming languages. One or more of such programs, modules, orcode can be integrated into a device system or existing communicationssoftware. The programs, modules, or code can also be implemented orreplicated as firmware or circuit logic.

Another aspect of the disclosure is directed to a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed,cause one or more processors to perform the methods of the disclosure.The computer-readable medium may include volatile or non-volatile,magnetic, semiconductor, tape, optical, removable, non-removable, orother types of computer-readable medium or computer-readable storagedevices. For example, the computer-readable medium may be the storageunit or the memory module having the computer instructions storedthereon, as disclosed. In some embodiments, the computer-readable mediummay be a disc or a flash drive having the computer instructions storedthereon.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope of any and all embodiments include equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated bythose skilled in the art based on the present disclosure. Thelimitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on thelanguage employed in the claims and not limited to examples described inthe present specification or during the prosecution of the application.The examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. Furthermore, thesteps of the disclosed methods may be modified in any manner, includingby reordering steps and/or inserting or deleting steps. It is intended,therefore, that the specification and examples be considered asillustrative only, with a true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims and their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions executable by at least one processor to facilitatedisplaying playback information during time compression or expansion ofan audio signal according to a method, the method comprising: displayinga full waveform of an audio signal during an audio file playback, thefull waveform comprising two half-waveform representations of the audiosignal; displaying a remaining playback-time associated with the audiofile; adjusting playback speed of the audio file during playback of theaudio file; and in response to the playback speed being adjusted,automatically displaying: an adjusted remaining playback-time associatedwith the audio file, and an expanded or contracted version of one of thehalf-waveform representations of the audio signal in accordance with theadjusted playback speed and simultaneously displaying the otherhalf-waveform representation of the audio signal in accordance with thecurrent playback speed.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: displaying atime-length associated with the audio file, and in response to theplayback speed being adjusted, automatically displaying, during playbackof the audio file, an adjusted time-length associated with the audiofile.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 2, whereinthe method further comprises incrementing or decrementing the adjustedtime-length at the same rate as the time-length.
 4. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises incrementing or decrementing the adjusted remaining playbacktime at the same rate as the remaining playback time.
 5. A systemcomprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing instruction that, when executed by the processor, causethe processor to perform a method for displaying playback informationduring time compression or expansion of an audio signal, the methodcomprising: displaying a full waveform of an audio signal during anaudio file playback, the full waveform comprising two half-waveformrepresentations of the audio signal; displaying a remainingplayback-time associated with the audio file; adjusting playback speedof the audio file during playback of the audio file; and in response tothe playback speed being adjusted, automatically displaying: an adjustedplayback-time associated with the audio file during playback of theaudio file, and an expanded or contracted version of one of thehalf-waveform representations of the audio signal in accordance with theadjusted playback speed and simultaneously displaying the otherhalf-waveform representation of the audio signal in accordance with thecurrent playback speed.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the methodfurther comprises: displaying a time-length associated with the audiofile, and in response to the playback speed being adjusted,automatically displaying, during playback of the audio file, an adjustedtime-length associated with the audio file.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the method further comprises incrementing or decrementing theadjusted time-length at the same rate as the time-length.
 8. The systemof claim 5, wherein the method further comprises incrementing ordecrementing the adjusted remaining playback time at the same rate asthe remaining playback time.
 9. A DJ media player comprising: a displayto show audio playback information during time compression or expansionof an audio signal; a controller to adjust the speed of audio playback;a processor for displaying audio file playback information on a DJ mediaplayer, wherein displaying audio file playback information comprises:displaying a full waveform of an audio signal during an audio fileplayback, the full waveform comprising two half-waveform representationsof the audio signal; displaying a remaining playback-time associatedwith the audio file; adjusting playback speed of the audio file duringplayback of the audio file; and in response to the playback speed beingadjusted, automatically displaying: an adjusted remaining playback-timeassociated with the audio file during playback of the audio file at theadjusted playback speed, and an expanded or contracted version of one ofthe half-waveform representations of the audio signal in accordance withthe adjusted playback speed and simultaneously displaying the otherhalf-waveform representation of the audio signal in accordance with thecurrent playback speed.
 10. The DJ media player of claim 9, whereindisplaying audio file playback information further comprises: displayinga time-length associated with the audio file, and in response to theplayback speed being adjusted, automatically displaying, during playbackof the audio file, an adjusted time-length associated with the audiofile.
 11. The DJ media player of claim 10, wherein displaying audio fileplayback information comprises incrementing or decrementing the adjustedtime-length at the same rate as the time-length.
 12. The DJ media playerof claim 9, wherein displaying audio file playback information comprisesincrementing or decrementing the adjusted remaining playback time at thesame rate as the remaining playback time.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the full waveform comprisesa composite waveform having a plurality of subsidiary waveforms visuallydiscernable in the composite waveform.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein at least one of thesubsidiary waveforms is visually discernable in the composite waveformby color associated therewith.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of subsidiarywaveforms is visually discernable in the composite waveform by a degreeof transparency associated therewith.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein a level of transparencyassociated with a subsidiary waveform is proportional or inverselyproportional to amplitude of a frequency band of the audio signalassociated with the subsidiary waveform.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality subsidiarywaveforms are each associated with different frequency bands of theaudio signal.
 18. The system of claim 5, wherein the full waveformcomprises a composite waveform having a plurality of subsidiarywaveforms visually discernable in the composite waveform.
 19. The systemof claim 18, wherein at least one of the subsidiary waveforms isvisually discernable in the composite waveform by color associatedtherewith.
 20. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of theplurality of subsidiary waveforms is visually discernable in thecomposite waveform by a degree of transparency associated therewith. 21.The system of claim 20, wherein a level of transparency associated witha subsidiary waveform is proportional or inversely proportional toamplitude of a frequency band of the audio signal associated with thesubsidiary waveform.
 22. The system of claim 18, wherein the pluralitysubsidiary waveforms are each associated with different frequency bandsof the audio signal.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 1, wherein the expanded or contracted version of one of thehalf-waveform representations of the audio signal is displayed in amanner which is visually discernible from the other half-waveformrepresentation of the audio signal.
 24. The system of claim 5, whereinthe expanded or contracted version of one of the half-waveformrepresentations of the audio signal is displayed in a manner which isvisually discernible from the other half-waveform representation of theaudio signal.
 25. The system of claim 9, wherein the expanded orcontracted version of one of the half-waveform representations of theaudio signal is displayed in a manner which is visually discernible fromthe other half-waveform representation of the audio signal.